
GIass_ t.i-^L<c 
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PEONOONCED AT SPRINGFIEtD, MASS, ON THE 



FOURTH OF JULY, 1823, 



FORTY SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY 



OF THE DECLARATION OF 



JLSimS@M m2S)!S^M!S)M(§& 



BY EDWARD D. BANGS, Es.*. 



♦VBLISHED EY REQUEST OF THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. 



SPRINGFIELD : 
A. G. TANNATT, PRINTER, 
1823. 



^•^ -1 Q. 



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V 1 

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DEEP was the gloom which overspread the nations, 
when liberty first dawned upon the western world. Its 
morning beams are now difiusing light and life over the 
fair fields of OMr happy land; and soon will its meridian 
splendour shine abroad upon the earth, crowning every hill- 
top with its radiance, and filling every valley with gladness. 
The events of the revolution — its momentous causes and 
consequences — the consummation of our national independ- 
ence — the triun)ph of the rights of man over those who 
pretended that man had no rights but what he derived from 
them — these are themes that can never tire. When they 
cease to be interesting to an American audience, even if re- 
hearsed by the lips of dulness itself, we may conclude that 
the spirit of freedom is about forsaking us forever. With 
what pride and pleasure, fellow-citizens, should you recur 
to the history of those times, when our beloved country ex- 
hibited a brighter display of the moral and intellectual ca- 
pacities of human nature than the world had ever before 
witnessed. Too long has our attention been turned to men 
and scenes of other climes. Too long have we gazed upon 
the tempestuous ocean of European politics, watching witK 
breathless anxiety the heaving of the mighty billows, which, 
at every swell, engulphed a slate or inundated an empire. 
At first, it seems insipid to withdraw our eyes from this 
dreadful but sublime spectacle, and survey the " calm sur- 
face of the sumtner's sea" which washes our own shores. 



6 

Yet the patriot aiid philanthropist will find at home a much 
Mioie delightful subject of contemplation, and, in reality, 
one more truly magnificent. 

Look at the history of America from the discovery of 
Columbus to the present day, and in the retrospect with 
what grand reflections does the mind dilate ; and what 
boundless and glorious prospects open on the view as we 
extend it into futurity t What are the evanescent revolu- 
tions of the European governments, with all the noise they 
have occasioned in the world, compared with the march of 
civilization on this immense conlinent, advancing with gi- 
j^ixntic steps from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, and 
reaching with a colossal stride almost from the North to the 
South Pole? The one is but the transient turbulence of a 
iempest — the other is like the revolving of the spheres, silent 
but stupendous. 

How insignificant in their consequences are the changes 
and commoiions which have convulsed Europe, and which, 
auer all, result only in the overthrow of one dynasty to 
make room for another, or the transfer of a set of slaves 
from one master to another — compared with the magnitude 
of the event we are celebrating ; whose efiects, important as 
we even now feel them to be, cannot be estimated in all 
Uieir greatness, till the lapse of ages has peopled the vast 
regions of America with countless millions of freemen! I 
do not intend any profane allusion, when I say, that the A- 
nmrican revolution was the redemption of mankind from a 
stale of political degradation and depravity. The world 
is not yet prepared to receive its blessings, but future gen- 
erations will embrace lliem with joy and gratitude. In the 
mcanlime, we may well be proud that ours was the chosen 
land where the great work of reformation was appointed to 
begin. Here was the standard of the true faith first planted. 
Here did its few but fearless disciples uphold it against the 
might of the oppressor. And hence wilPit extend its tri- 
\iui|)hs, till it waves in every sea and over every clime. 

Are we disappointed that the progress of republicanism 
has not kept pace with the swiftness of our anticipations ^ 
A little reflection will convince us that we have more cause 
for encouragement than despondency. I believe it to be a 
part of the grand system by wiiich God governs the world, 
that the obstacles to the march of reason should be gradu- 
ally overcome j and that it should advance slowly, but 



7 

steadily, and surely, to a final victory over prejudice and 
error. Much is already done. Even in the old world, re- 
publican principles animate the breasts of thousands. The 
smothered flame cannot always be suppressed. It will 
burst forth in a general conflagration ; and the monuments 
of bigotry and ignorance, the institutions of priestcraft, and 
the thrones of despots, will be consumed like stubble. 

It is true, that to the superficial observer the prospect is 
dark and forbidding, and only a few faint gleams of light 
break through the gloom. The friends of liberty have once 
and again struggled in vain. They are still borne down 
by the hand of tyranny. The minions of arbitrary power 
are now employed in rivetting the chains of vassalage up- 
on those who flattered themselves that they had shaken 
them oft' forever. They will not sufler a great and gener- 
ous people to support a government founded on the will of 
the many in opposition to the usurpations of the few. Un- 
happy Spain ! Would to God that thy own sons did not de- 
ceive and betray thee — that disaftection did not corrupt thy 
life blood and palsy thy right arm ! Didst thou present the 
same unbroken front before which the legions of Napoleon 
retired in discomfiture, not all the forces which the Holy 
Alliance could marshal against thee, would break down the 
adamantine wall. But we viill not despair. The invader 
may be defeated — the blow he strikes may recoil on his own 
head — he may be entangled in his own devices — he may 
find too late for his safety, " that he who sows the wind wiU 
reap the whirlwind!" Whatever may be the result, we will 
NOT DESPAIR ! The night will pass — the morning will come. 
And the longer and darker the night, the more bright and 
■welcome will be the dawn. The reign of oppression must 
terminate. The progress of knowledge is irresistible ; and 
tyrants can no more arrest its course than they can roll 
back the waters of the Mississippi. When the human mind 
shall be enlightened, mankind will be delivered from their 
thraldom. 

The example of America has not been lost upon the 
tvorld. The older nations who witness the operation of our 
democratic system, will have, in the successful experiment 
we are making, a lesson of wisdom constantly before their 
eyes, and to which every day will give increased authority. 
With us is deposited a sacred trust for the benefit of the 
whole human race. Upon the test we are making of the 



eflkiency and durability of a republican form of govern- 
ment, not only the happiness of ourselves and of our poster- 
ity depends, but the welfare of generations to come in the 
remotest regions of the globe is suspended on the issue. 
Such being our awful responsibility, may we so acquit our- 
selves, that the blessings and not the curses of those who 
shall succeed us may rest upon our memories ! 

And are we free from danger ? Are we secure against that 
fate which has overtaken every other empire ? Will our lib- 
erties which now seem founded on a rock survive the rav- 
ages of time, the collisions which they must undergo in our 
intercourse with foreign nations, and that " canker at the 
root" the progress of luxury and vice among ourselves ? Do 
we properly estimate the worth of our blessings and watch 
over them with that vigilance and solicitude with which so 
invaluable a treasure should be guarded ? Triumphing in 
our deliverance from slavery and our escape from perils, 
and glorying in our might, are we not too confident, too 
self-secure ? Let the history of other nations, and let our 
own short history give the answer. Faction, the hydra to 
which so many states have been the prey, has already rear- 
ed among us its detested form. We have more than once 
witnessed the operation of that party madness which in- 
flames the passions, perverts the understanding, shuts the 
eyes to the light of truth, closes the ears against the voice 
of reason, and fills the imagination with a thousand false 
alarms. Under the influence of this phrenzy, we have seen 
doctrines advocated and measures pursued, which have af- 
terwards produced in their authors the bitter fruits of re- 
pentance. At a crisis when the united energies of the coun- 
try were demanded to vindicate her rights, her strength has 
been paralyzed by internal opposition. The passions of 
the ignorant and the prejudiced were successfully addressed ; 
unfounded jealousies were excited; every measure, even of 
self-defence, was denounced and resisted ; unauthorized com- 
binations were formed; and that war, which at length " ter- 
minated with so much glory to the nation," had well nigh 
terminated in the prostration of the government and tive 
separation of the stales. Tlie recurrence of such scenes as 
these, is the evil most to be apprehended by the citizens of a 
free state. The convulsions of faction, if often renewed or 
long continued, will eiv), as they ever have done, in the 



destruction of liberiy. The people will prefer despotism to 
anarchy. 

The American Republic is not exposed to the same dan- 
gers, because not liable to the same temptations with other 
empires. We have no rival neighbors to provoke our jeal- 
ousy. We are not confined within narrow limits and 
tempted to enlarge our territory by conquest. Oiir wars 
must commonly be wars of self-defence, and will not give 
sufficient scope for the ambition of conquerors. But we 
are exposed to dangers of a different nature, and we have 
narrowly escaped from them. Let us take warning from 
experience, and " indignantly frown upon the first dawning 
of any attempt" to divide a people who can have but one 
interest and one common cause. 

There is no surer safeguard against the mischiefs to 
which popular governments are liable, than an inflexible 
adherence to that fundamental principle of every democra- 
cy, whether pure or mixed, that the majority must govern. 
If we depart from this unerring rule confusion will inevita- 
bl}; ensue. When the will of the people is unequivocally 
expressed, it must be cheerfully obeyed. It is the duty of 
the minority to acquiesce, if not in silence, yet without fac- 
tious resistance. This doctrine is an essential part of the 
republican creed. By constantly maintaining it, and by 
practically adopting the maxims of political equality, re- 
publicanism has obtained and will preserve its ascendency. 
It is indeed the cause of the people, and will prevail as long 
as the people know and value their own privileges. 

It is one of the most gratifying circumstances attending 
the triumph of the republican party, that their political an- 
tagonists are compelled by the force of public sentiment to 
avow principles which they once denounced us Jacobinical. 
We hear nothing now about the ^^ mob^^ and the ^^ swinish 
multitude.''^ The federal leaders profess the utmost defer- 
ence for popular opinion, and a sacred regard to the equal 
rights of all classes of citizens. I' pretend not to decide on 
the sincerity of these declarations ; by their fruits we must 
judge them. 

How cheering are the reflections of those republicans 
who have remained steadfast from the beginning. Their 
confidence in the discrimination, consistency and firmness, 
of the people has been justified. Their promises and pre- 
dictions have been fulfilled ; and the ill-omened prophecies 
2 



10 

of those who foretold all manner of evil from ihe triumph of 
democracy have been completely falsified. The constitu- 
lion still exists in its original purity and efficiency. Peace 
and order prevail where anarchy and discord were to have 
their " perfect work." V^e still live under the proteelion 
of equal laws, instead of being subjected to the caprice of 
an ignorant populace whose will, we were told, was hence- 
forth to be the only law. Courts of justice are still open to 
judge between man and man, where the guillotine was to 
be erected to execute the vengeance of an infuriated multi- 
tude. Our religion still blesses us with its holy institutions 
and influences ; nor are its altars yet dea)olished, nor its 
temples desecrated by infidelity, which it was pretended 
was in strict alliance with republicanism ] 

Experience, fellow-republicans, has tried the integrity of 
your principles, and has proved that they are adapted to 
every condition and exigency of the state, to times of diffi- 
culty and danger as well as to those of calmness and secu- 
rity. They have passed an ordeal which nothing unsound 
could have endured. They have withstood a shock which 
would have levelled them with the dust, had they not been 
founded on the immutable basis of truth. Thanks to 
Heaven ! You did not desert your country in her utmost 
need— you were faithful among the faithless. At a period 
when, in Massachusetts at least, every friend of the govern- 
ment was proscribed and persecuted, you remained " un- 
moved, unseduced, unterrified." You did not fear to raise 
your voice in defence of a just and necessary war, amid the 
clamours of faction. The God of battles heard you, and 
your prayers were answered. 

1 will not dwell on the conduct of those infatuated men 
who, to gratify their party resentments, would have surren- 
dered the nation to the mercy of its enemies. It is painful 
to revert to that pernicious policy which then directed the 
councils of Massachusetts ; which arrayed her in hostility 
to the union; squandered her treasures in maintaining aii 
attitude of defiance against the constitutional requisitions of 
the government ; and brought upon her a reproach from 
which she is now striving to redeem herself. In alluding 
to these unhappy circumstances, 1 hope that my motives 
and feelings will not be misapprehended — " I speak more 
in pity than in anger;" nor should the subject have drawn 
from me a single remark, had it not been forced on my at- 



H 

tention by llie language of those who formerly exercisea a 
commanding influence over the public mind. We hear 
them vindicating the course pursued by the predominant 
party in New-England during those days of delusion and 
disorder. We see them assailing our venerable Chief Ma- 
gistrate with the most unsparing invective, because he ex- 
pressed his honest indignation in terms not quite courteous 
enough for the nice ears of sensibility ! Instead of mani- 
festing signs of repentance, we behold them glorying in 
their own shame. The attempt of these disappointed men 
to "pluck up their drowned honor by the locks" ought to 
be stamped with general reprobation. And 1 deem it an 
imperative duty to join my feeble voice to the verdict ol 
condemnation which an indignant people has pronounced 
against those measures and their abettors. 

The progress and termination of the late war are sub- 
jects of exultation to every patriot, While commemorating 
the triumph of liberty in thej^rs^ struggle for independence, 
we cannot pass by in silence the conflict we have so recent- 
ly sustained in defence of what our fathers won. These 
events are fresh in our recollection. They make part of 
our experience; they are, therefore, deeply interesting to 
our feelings. Was the war unnecessary .'* Is it unnecessary 
to defend our pockets or our throats from the midnight rob- 
ber .'* Abused, despised, brow-beaten, trampled upon — were 
we to lie down patiently under the accumulating load of 
insult and injury.'' No indeed! Some sparks of our fa- 
thers' spirit still lived in the breasts of their descendants. — 
We used reason and argument with the haughty invaders 
of our rights — they derided them. We tried remonstrance 
— they spurned it ! We ventured to utter menaces — they 
laughed at them I We drew the sword — and we found it 
the most effectual negotiator I 

Compare our situation now with what it was before our 
appeal to arms, and how striking is the contrast ! Then, 
our character was almost at the lowest possible degree of 
abasement. We were regarded as a nation of poltrons, 
without the spirit to resent insult, or the power to resist ag- 
gression. The American flag was no longer a protection 
to the vessel over which it waved. American citizenship 
was no longer a security for the persons of our seamen. — 
Our commerce was plundered upon every sea, and the pit- 
tance which remained, we were tauntingly told, was held 



12 

merely by siifl'erance. Nothing seemed wanting to com- 
plete our degradation, but to be stripped of our nominal 
independence. jYow, wherever the flag of stripes and stars 
is displayed, it is hailed with admiration, and greeted with 
welcome. We occupy a place among the nations to which 
the ambition of the patriot hardly dared to aspire. Our 
wrongs are redressed; our rights respected; our impressed 
seamen released; our commerce emancipated from its 
shackles. 

And how is the scene changed at home ! Then, we were 
divided and distracted, jealous of each other, and doubtful 
even of our combined strength ; ashamed that we had sub- 
iTiitled so long, yet shrinking from an encounter with the 
dreaded foe. JVoiy, disaffection has ceased to impede the 
operations of government. The clamours of party are, for 
a season at least, hushed. We are confident in our own 
ability and resources, and may regard other nations with- 
out fear or envy. Should the discordant voice of faction 
again interrupt our harmony, fomenting discontent and 
plotting mischief, we may confide in the proof furnished 
by experience that the cause of the country, if it is the 
cause of justice, will finally prevail. 
-True, it has cost us toil to reach the eminence on which 
we stand and survey the dangers we have passed — and it 
lias cost us blood to achieve the victories which will form 
the key-stone to the triumphal arch of the nation's glory. — 
But it is one of the wise ordinances of Pro'vidence in his 
dealings with man, that what is valuable in possession 
should be difficult of acquisition ; and we feel assured, that 
however great the sacrifice vshich it became necessary for 
lis to make, it was sanctioned by the cause in v.hich we 
were engaged. The boon which Heaven has granted to 
lis is doubly precious because sealed with the blood of the 
hrave. When we consider the price paid for it, we shall 
value it the more highly, and guard it more asiduously. 

Amidst ihe joys of this festival, we must not forget the 
debt of gratitude which we owe to those sages and heroes, 
the fruit of whose labors we participate. I need not 
enumerate the glorious catalogue. Their memories are 
still " green in your souls." But there is one name which 
it has been my pride, upon occasions like the present, to re- 
peat before my fellow citizens. Your voices will respond 
lo mine when 1 utter the name of Jeffekson. 



1t> 
o 

Can you hear him mentioned without mingled emotions, 
of reverence for the greatness and goodness of his charac- 
ter, and of indignation at the calumny which has assailed 
him ? When 1 reflect, that his life will adorn the page of 
American history, I feel proud for my country that she can 
boast of such a man. But when 1 consider that on the 
same page will be recorded the history of his enemies, that 
it will lell to the world the shameful story of their ingrati- 
tude—how vindictively they pursued him, not only through 
his public career, but into the bosom of his family, and the 
retirement of his closet ; how they misrepresented all his 
deeds, and words, and thoughts ; how industriously they la- 
bored in the work of his destruction, to blast his reputa- 
lion, to destroy his influence, to undermine the monument 
of glory which he was building for the nation, I blush that 
so indelible a stain must rest upon any of my countrymen. 
But, thank God, virtue has triumphed, and the fine gold 
has come forth pure from the assay. The " tall cliff," 
which lifted its " head above the storm," now rises before 
us in all its grandeur, for the tempest no longer rages at its 
base. The luminary which held its "glorious course through 
the skies," though "clouds of detraction" gathered round 
it, is now setting bright and unobscured, and throws its 
milder radiance over the land which it enlightened and en- 
livened with its day beams. It was said by an ancient 
philosopher, that no spectacle was so pleasing to the gods, 
as a great man struggling with adversity. And is there, 
now, a spectacle more interesting to the world, than a great 
and good man contending against bigotry and falsehood 
and prejudice, and ra last shaking them off as the "lion 
shakes the dew-drops from his mane." 

The republicans of Massaciiusetts have, on this day, 
more than common cause of gratulation. We celebrate 
not only the revolution of 1775, but that of 1823. We 
trust that the latter will be the means of perpetuating the 
blessings of the former. This depends upon the use we 
make of our power. Union and firmness, joined to pru- 
dence and moderation, will preserve our ascendency, es- 
tablish us in the confidence of the people, and conciliate 
the affections of our opponents. Avoid all recrimination 
and retaliation upon the party over whom you have tri- 
umphed. They would be as impolitic as they would be 
tmgencrous and ungentlemanly. In view of the vicissi- 



14 

tudes to which, in a free state, every party is liable, it would 
be extreme folly, as well as want of magnanimity, to insult 
and proscribe the minority. They have the same right to 
their opinions that we have to ours, and we have no reason 
to doubt that the great body of them have acted honestly. 
We are convinced that their policy has been a mistaken 
one, but we are noi therefore bound to believe that they 
have been influenced by corrupt motives. They started in 
their political career with false premises, and false conclu- 
sions have naturally followed. But time is curing the evil, 
and proving the correctness of the maxim, that "error of 
opinion may be safely tolerated, where reason is left free to 
combat it." While, therefore, we continue steadfast in the 
faith, let us cultivate that charity which suffereth long and is 
kind, and which will be more effectual than intolerance to 
reclaim the wandering from the error of their ways. 

There is one subject, however, on which I hope you will 
always be stern and unbending. It is one upon which I 
have already commented in terms unpleasant to my own 
feelings. I mean the stand taken by Massachusetts during 
the late war. A parricidal blow w as aimed at the vital in- 
terests, nay, at the very existence of the national confeder- 
acy. This event should be held up as a beacon to posteri- 
iy, to warn them against that fatal course in which the 
madness of party was hurrying us to destruction. Never 
suffer in your presence an attempt to justify those proceed- 
ings, without venting your indignation in the most decided 
language. They cannot be justified — I repeat it — they ne- 
ver can be justified! And I am happy to say that, out of 
Massachusetts, nobody seems inclined to make the experi- 
ment. 

The duties wc owe to each other, fellow republicans, are 
perhaps more difficult to discharge than those which are 
tlue from us to our opponents. We must preserve harmo- 
ny among ourselves, or we shall fall more rapidly than we 
have risen. Here lies our chief danger — upon this rock 
all our hopes may be wrecked. It has been so in other 
sections of liie Union ; and the same mistakes by us will 
lead to the same mischiefs. We have seen deplorable in- 
stances of this folly in neighboring states. No sooner ha? 
tlie repuhiioan party acquired an undisputed supremacy, 
than it has forfeited every advantage it had gained by un- 
neccssarv rlisputes and divisions. Wjiat has produced ihU 



15 

'iiuhappy result, and how shall we guard against the recur- 
rence of the evil ? Is not jealousy our besetting sin ? Arc 
we not too apt to condemn tliose who have acted in concert 
with us, because they do not think on every point exactly 
as we do? Are we not inclined to fix a standard of politi- 
cal orthodoxy, and denounce as apostates all who fall short 
of this mark ? Because there have been traitors in the camp, 
our suspicions are kept constantly awake. But why should 
we, on slight grounds, distrust those who with us have 
borne the heat and burthen of the day, and can have no in- 
ducement to desert us? Are not their interests the same as 
ours ? Have not they been laboring for the same end, and 
have not they the same stake in the issue of the contest ? — 
No independent man will suffer himself to be deprived of 
the liberty of thinking and expressing his thoughts freely. 
This is his privilege, as much as it is his duty to bow with 
deference to the will of the majority. And it is a privilege 
which cannot be taken from him, without the grossest in- 
justice. By the miserable policy which I have described, 
many of our ablest men have been driven over to the ene- 
my, or been made the instruments of scattering disaffection 
in our own ranks. 

Another error into which republicans have fallen, is their 
neglect to bring into active service the talents in their pow- 
er to command. For some inexplicable cause, there has 
existed a prejudice against men of learning and genius, as 
if they knew too much to be entrusted with the reins of gov- 
ernment. It seems to be feared, that they will overreach 
their more simple and unwary countrymen, and sacrifice 
the public good to their private interests. This delusion 
has not yet prevailed to much extent in Massachusetts, but 
it has occasionally appeared even here. There cannot be 
a more groundless prejudice, nor one more detrimental to 
our cause. History will acquaint us, that in every age of 
the world, the friends of science have been the advocates of 
liberty, and that ignorance is the mother of despotism. — 
Examine the present state of Europe, and you will find that 
their universities and schools are, in general, nurseries of 
republicanism ; and that tyrants regard with an instinctive 
dread the progress of literature and philosophy. Survey 
Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and tell me whether iheir 
men of learning are not the most powerful champions of 
^■"<^r om — while the disciples of the old school cling for their 



5upport to an ignorant nobility, a bigottcd priesthood, and 
a blind and stupid populace. 

Let us, then, fellow citizens, choose as the guardians of 
our rights those who can best appreciate their importance, 
men of enlarged sentiments and well informed minds, of 
whatever class, condition or profession. We may be sure 
that the government will be safer under their guidance, than 
in the hands of the ignorant and the narrow-minded. Let us 
watch at every avenue against the intrusion of aristocracy. 
But it is the aristocracy oi^ wealth or of birth alone that can 
endanger us. An aristocracy of talent is a chimera of the 
imagination — it never can exist where the rich and the 
poor have equal access to the fountains of knowledge. 

It is our especial duty to encourage those young men who 
are now pressing forward in the ranks of republicanism, 
panting with honorable ambition, and eager to distinguish 
themselves in public life. Their aspiring hopes ought not 
to be repressed. They will do honor to themselves and to 
their country. 

We have never celebrated the return of this anniversary 
under circumstances more propitious than those'* which now 
attend us. The government of every state in the Union 
is now" administered on republican principles. We trust 
the event will prove, that the people have chosen good rath- 
er than evil. May the blessings we enjoy be communi- 
cated to all the nations of the earth ! May the great cause 
of liberty have free course and be glorified ! 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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